What a beautiful day! We have been really blessed with the warm weather and no rain since we arrived last Sunday. It was a perfect day to walk around the city and observe the people, buildings and lifestyle here in Dublin. In class, we talked about cross-culture communication and how it differs between the US and Ireland. Also, we reflected in our past experiences at the company and cultural sites, and aspects we have observed in Ireland like how people interact with each other, fashion trend and business relationships. Later in the afternoon we had a guest from an Irish company called TalentHub. We met Ellie Doyle who is the Founder and Director of TalentHub, and she gave a presentation about how to be a successful candidate when applying for internships and jobs. Her company works in the hiring industry by connecting candidates and companies with each other, keeping in mind the culture and environment of the organization. The success rate for the company is 96% and Ellie Doyle is very proud of that big accomplishment. After the academic sessions, I went with my friends to the Irish Museum of Modern Art and a pub to listen to traditional Irish music. It was a relaxing but very productive day!

It is helpful to keep in mind our abilities, interests and strengths when traveling to a new place or going to a new environment. I want to briefly comment on how I am using my strengths from the Gallup StrengthsFinder assessment in my study abroad program in Ireland. My top five strengths are: Deliberative, Learner, Analytical, Achiever and Discipline. For deliberative, the first thing that came to my mind is the traffic. In some streets, it takes a long time to wait for the pedestrian light to turn green, so I decide to make a good judgement by identifying the cars and bikes that are crossing the rode and when I see there is some chance to cross to the other side, I take the decision to cross and I just do it. For learner, I am now confident when walking around the city on the main streets or close to our apartment because I learned the routes and the location of the apartment in relation to the river. The first day I felt lost in a new place (as usual), but now that I learned the main streets, I don’t feel lost and insecure walking by myself. For analytical, I always keep in mind the conversation rate from euros to dollars when paying for food, and since I like to work with numbers and my major is accounting, I am glad to be able to manage a different currency in Ireland. For achiever, being here in Ireland is a big accomplishment. I wasn’t sure if I was going to come because I applied late for a visa, and it was a long application. Every day I thought about my visa and I never got tired to think about it until I received it less than a week ago before the trip. Therefore, for the past five days I woke up full of energy to get the most from this experience. Finally, for discipline, I planned the day before what I want to do the following day and the order is important as well. I paid attention to the information given by tour guides, employers and Pitt faculty. For the rest of the trip, I plan to keep using my strengths in all the activities and while exploring Ireland in my free time.

Here is a video of the traditional Irish music I listened today! Hope you like it as much as I did!